Knowledge is power.
I am pretty good at guesstimating how many calories are in something. After 5+ years of counting calories to lose weight I’ve become sort of an encyclopedia of Calorie Knowledge.
Because I have this Calorie Knowledge in me, it’s often hard to splurge on things I used to eat ALL.THE.TIME.
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It’s also the time of year for amazing seasonal treats. For example:
I used to LOVE love love a Starbucks Chocolate Peppermint Mocha with Whipped Cream and Chocolate shavings on top. Oh my god. I’d suck down one a day (or more).
How many calories are in this delicious treat? 540 calories for a Grande (16 ounces).
To give you some clarity as to why I skip these now: Tee other night at the gym I worked out for ONE HOUR AND TWENTY-TWO MINUTES and burned 512 calories. ALMOST the same as one mocha.
Another treat–which I probably WILL partake in this holiday season–is the glorious, creamy Peppermint Ice Cream. LOVE it!
Depending on the brand it runs between 140-200 calories a serving. Which is not too bad but I have a hard time eating just one serving at a time. One serving is about 1/2 cup. Or one scoop.
I almost never have just one scoop. So that’s really more like 300-400 calories. Which is an okay splurge once in awhile.
Speaking of Holiday treats…how about Eggnog? Mmmm! Looking forward to having some GregNog this weekend in fact.
1 cup of eggnog = 340 calories or so depending on ingredients and portions. Now I celebrate the holidays in healthier, lower calorie ways. I get the Light Eggnog, mix it with Non-fat Milk to dilute it and I skip the whipped cream.
Another one of my old haunts….BURGERVILLE. Their current seasonal milkshakes right now are:
Chocolate Peppermint Milkshake (Regular): 940 calories
Chocolate Peppermint Milkshake (Large): 1140 calories
Burgerville Eggnog Milkshake (Regular): 520 calories
Burgerville Eggnog Milkshake (Large): 670 calories
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Oh so good. I’ve discussed Burgerville’s amazing milkshakes in the past. I definitely miss those but rarely can I justify the calories I’d consume.
A treat I CAN have as an alternative are these:
Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Cookies. Basically Oreos but with peppermint. YUM. Noticing a theme here? 😉 I believe there are 140 calories for 2 cookies. A nice treat indeed!
Come on readers! Share your favorite treats and ALTERNATIVES!
QUESTION: What are some high-calorie items you rarely ever indulge in because you now know how bad they are for you? What do you eat instead?
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Lori Lynn
I really wanted a piece of chocolate cake from the bakery at the Supertarget, but instead I had a VitaBrownie, which has 100 calories. I really need to find an alternative for doughnuts with cream filling, b/c those are rather addictive for me!!
Lisa Eirene
Let me know when you think of an alternative!!
Carbzilla
The Starbucks page of the IPhone app for WWP+ was so overwhelming I just gave up altogether and drove home. I WILL figure out how many P+ are in a tall non-fat no-whip mocha. Just maybe not today.
I’m thinking there has to be a Peppermint Ice Cream alternative. Maybe break up your own cane in a scoop of Dreyer’s Light? You can count the calories you burn while blending it.
Lisa Eirene
Haha!! You crack me up. Maybe I should also churn my own ice cream!! 😉
Sugar Magnolia
Oh man! I wish I hadn’t read this! My favorite treat is Starbucks White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha–venti size. I used to get a few a week. Now I just get about one a week. Yikes!
Cyndi Johnson
I used to get the Starbucks Mochas almost every day. Loved the chocolate flavor but by mid afternoon I was getting headaches from the sugar and extra caffine. Now I am drinking a nutrition shake called Shakeology. It is a dark chocolate flavor and when I mix it with just a little bit of coffee it tastes even better than the Starbucks mocha and makes me feel 1000% better. Plus I can also blend it with ice and one tablespoon of peanut butter and it turns out just like chocolate peanut butter ice cream – but of course with half the calories! Check it out at http://www.shakeforgoodhealth.com
kalin
at burgerville the smoothies are the SAME thing as a shake, just with frozen yogurt and no whipped cream. they’re still a splurge as a smoothie, but not nearly as bad. (figured this out when i had a smoothie and my husband had a shake once-they tasted the exact same!)
Merinda
I love the little Debbie christmas tree cakes. Thank God they come in single serving pacakages, but still 5 points each. I’ve only got one box this year.
Also someone needs to mail me those trader joe cookies. We don’t have tj’s in Texas and I miss it.
blackhuff
I used to love Mc Donanlds burgers but these days I opt for Steers burgers. They grill their patties, when at home I leave the buns and scrape off some excess sauce. They are also part of the Heart Foundation here where I live.
I also used to have Christmas Fruit cake but this year I will not have any. Instead I’ll have my 3 blocks of dark Chocolate
Ffion
I tend to crave everything chocolate-y: cake, biscuits, ice cream, or even just plain chocolate. My way to cure this is to once a week choose one thing I fancy and have it, and enjoy it, then move straight back to healthy for the rest of the day/week!
Lisa Eirene
Chocolate is definitely my craving too…